┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ 🔮⛓🪩 ༉‧₊˚✧ ꒰ 𝓓ancing 𝓠ueen ꒱

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾          ⎯⎯ 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗏𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒

                    THE FEELING of loneliness was nothing new for Robby. He's known it his whole life, whether it came from his mother or father or his lack of friends, the sensation has been there since he can remember.

          When he was young, Robby was quiet, and the most socializing he would do would be with his mother and her new friends. He remembered his seventh birthday; his mom promised him a trip to the Lego store when he left school. When the final bell rang, Robby rushed out to the school's steps and stood sitting impatiently, his green eyes wide and shining with excitement. He sat for ten minutes. It wasn't uncommon for Shannon to be late; he thought it'd be okay. And another, and another, until it was four-thirty and there was still no sign of his mom. The school parking lot was nearly empty as he sat alone waiting, his lips pulled into a deep frown.

          A kind teacher kneeled down to his height, speaking in a sickly sympathetic tone, asking question after question as Robby hugged himself with tears brimming his green eyes. The teacher hugged him while he cried until the clock struck five, and a car whipped into the parking lot.

          His mom stepped out of a rusted silver car that had seen better days; the stench of gas seeped from it, a tail light was broken, and the windows were stuck halfway up. Robby vividly remembers that moment. Shannon's hair was tousled, makeup messy and smudged, her outfit skin-tight and heels high as she strutted up to the two.

          His teacher pulled his mother aside, and hushed angry whispers erupted from the two women. Shannon stormed toward him with a dark look in her hazel eyes as she grabbed his arm tightly and pushed him into the car's passenger seat. Her perfume did a poor job shielding the stench of alcohol that wafted off her person.

          He remembered seeing her turn back around and angrily scream at the older woman for scolding her parenting. More and more yelling even as she hopped into the front seat and speeded away, not even checking to see if Robby was buckled.

          The ride home was silent and awkward. She dropped him off with a kiss on his forehead and a bag of Mcdonald's, telling him she'd be home soon. Robby stood alone in the apartment, fat tears dribbling downs his cheeks as he held the greasy bag of food in his hands.

          His mother had forgotten his birthday, and he was left alone.

          He was seven.

           When he was nine, he remembers the famous father-son baseball game. The game Johnny had sworn he'd take Robby to. But as Robby waited for an hour and another, with his baseball cap and mitt in hand, he realized he was never coming and sat by himself on the bleachers. His green eyes, fueled with envy, watched the fathers and sons cheer each other on.

          When he was twelve, he took a harsh hit while skating and picked himself up, silently whining at the aching pain in his ankle. On his limp home, he watched as two parents cradled their crying daughter after she fell and scraped her knee. That night he reached home to be welcomed with an empty apartment and a hollow feeling in his chest to soothe him to sleep.

          Long story short, Robby is used to being alone.

          However, on the walk back to his house from the LaRusso's, the loneliness felt worse than ever. For a moment, Robby thought that he finally wasn't alone. The LaRusso's had welcomed him into their house with a warm embrace, and all of it crumbled within one minute. For the first time in his life, he felt like he had a home. A place where he could go for safety and shelter and be met with love and support.

          He felt the burning prick of tears reach his eyes, and suddenly he felt like that broken seven-year-old boy all over again.

          He didn't know how or why, but he blinked, and suddenly he stood in front of the Torres apartment, his fist shaking as he rose it up to knock, his shoulders shaking as he withheld a cry.

          The door swung open, and a half-awake Venus stood before the Keene Boy. Her bubblegum-pink hair was gathered in a messy ponytail atop her head, straggles of baby hairs sticking out in all directions. She wore fluffy pink shorts and an oversized Team Edward shirt, a pout painted on her pink lips as she rubbed the sleep out of her honey-brown eyes.

          "Swayze?" Venus squinted up at him; moving closer, she noticed his shaking frame. Panic rushed across her features, and she woke up almost instantly, "Robby, are you okay?"

          Are you okay?

          He crumbled, and a loud sob tore from his throat as his knees grew weak. His entire body shook with wails, and his vision was so blurred he couldn't see a thing.

          He felt Venus tightly throw her arms around him; her embrace was warm and comforting. The strawberry scent of the girl's shampoo filled his nose as she cradled him to her. Venus pulled him to the couch, sitting him down as he broke. He sobbed in her comforting arms as she whispered small, it's okays, and you're okays, to him.

          Venus let him cry, rocking back and forth with his shaking frame; she tried her best to soothe him, her eyebrows furrowed with worry as she brushed back his brown locks. Venus held the boy in that same position for a while until it was just the sounds of the two's breathing.

          A soft luminescence emitted from the kitchen's fairy lights and onto Robby's tear-stained cheeks. He sat up slowly, sniffling as he did so. Venus hopped up and grabbed the teen a tissue box and a cup of water, handing them to him with a gentle smile.

          Robby gave her a thankful nod grasping the items in his shaking hands. He sipped the water slowly and muttered, "Thank you." His throat was still raw from crying.

          "Of course, Robby." Venus' sweet voice was quiet. Her eyes gazed into the boy's red-rimmed eyes with sympathy.

          "I'm sorry, it looked like you were asleep before I got here and I didn't mean to come here I just—" He babbled and stumbled over his words.

          "No, no," Venus shook her head, "Don't apologize, okay? Never apologize for something like this, ever." Robby nodded, his head hanging low.

          Venus placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it slowly, "What happened?"

          "I messed up."

          Her eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

          Robby held his head with a heavy sigh and looked at Venus, "It's a long story."

          Venus pulled her knees to her chest and handed a knitted blanket over to Robby with a shrug, "Well, we have time. But if you don't wanna talk about it, it's okay. I completely understand."

          Robby leaned back on the couch, clenching his fists til his knuckles turned white, "I ruined my relationship with Mr. LaRusso."

          Venus tilted her head to the side with her gentle, understanding eyes gazing into his, nodding for him to continue.

          He heaved a sigh, "My dad is an asshole, he's been neglectful all my life. Never doing any fatherly duties besides being a dick. A few weeks ago I saw him with this kid, he looked about my age and my dad hugged him." A scoff of disbelief fell from his lips as tears filled his eyes again, "Hugged him. He can hug and bond with some kid but not even bother with his own son? What kind of bullshit is that?"

          He rubbed his eyes harshly, "I was angry, and I knew what would get under my dad's skin, so I got a job at the LaRusso dealership, and you know, it wasn't meant to get like this. But, Mr. LaRusso took me under his wing, he welcomed me into his family, taught me Miyagi-Do—we were supposed to be at the all-valley together. For once in my life," His voice cracked, tears dribbling down his flushed face, "I felt cared for. I felt like I had a family, and I just never wanted it to end,"

          "And Sam," Robby shook his head, unable to finish his sentence. He sighed, "Mr. LaRusso found out who my dad was and kicked me out, banning me from anything and everything relating to him. My entire world was shattered in front of me, I lost basically everything within one minute. All because of my dad."

          When Robby finished, he was fully crying, and Venus sat wide-eyed, her hands fiddling with the drawstrings of her shorts, "Wow."

          "Yeah."

          The pink-haired girl looked around the room, her thoughts a wild mess; Miguel and Robby hated each other? Sensei Lawrence is Robby's dad. Did Robby know that Venus was a part of Cobra Kai?

          Snapping out of her state, Venus leaned forward and threw her arms around Robby's frame. She embraced him tightly, a whisper leaving her pink lips, "I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around her, nodding into her shoulder as he basked in her arms.

          Leaning back, Venus gave him a slight grin, "You had a long day, yeah? You can sleep here for tonight." Standing up, she offered him a hand and led him to her room.

          Robby frowned, watching the small girl gather more pillows and blankets, making her bed cozy, "Venus...I am not going to take your bed."

          Waving him off, the girl grabbed two blankets and a stuffed animal from her bed and laid down on her bean bag chair, "Don't be stupid, Swayze. Besides, this can be my payment for letting me stay at your house."

          "But—"

          "Swayze, just shush up and go to bed, I promise you, I'll be fine, my bean bag is very comfy." Venus wrapped her blanket around her frame, snuggling into the chair with her eyes shut. A yawn flew from her mouth, "Goodnight."

          Robby stared at her frame with a gentle, genuine smile, warmth flooding his chest as he laid down on her bed and shut his eyes, realizing that maybe he didn't lose everything.

⎯⎯⎯

          The next day, Venus stood with the rest of the Cobra Kai students outside the All-Valley Tournament building. She woke up this morning to a neatly made bed and a note, Thanks for last night. It really meant a lot. Her mind was running a mile a minute, from Robby to her fear of the tournament; the girl's body had been running on nerves from the minute she opened her eyes.

          A hand on her shoulder made her jump in surprise; Eli's worried eyes gazed down at her in concern, "You okay?"

          Venus bit her lip and nodded, making Eli furrow his brows. Venus only shuts down like this when something is on her mind. He knew her too well.

          Instead of prying, knowing she wouldn't say anything in front of the others. The boy threw an arm over her shoulders, pulling her tightly into his side, letting her know silently that he was there for her. Eli felt his heart beat faster as Venus looked up at him with those beautiful honey-brown eyes. A soft pink hue stumbled across his cheeks as she gave him a thankful smile, leaning into him.

          Venus glanced down at her worn pink converse to hide the heat crawling up to her own cheeks; clearing her throat, she moved her eyes over to Miguel, who was throwing punch after punch into the air.

          "Yo, Miguel, calm down, man," Eli called out, his grip around Venus tightening. "Save some for the tournament."

          The Diaz boy barely glanced in Eli's direction before returning to what he was doing.

           Aisha shook her head and nudged Eli, "Don't even bother, he's been super aggro ever since the breakup."

           Venus cringed, thinking about Sam, Miguel, and Robby's situation.

          "Where's sensei?" Eli asked, "The tournament's gonna start soon."

          "He'll be here," Venus reassured him before mumbling to Aisha, "He better be here. I am not getting my ass kicked without him."

          "I don't know about that," Bert muttered, making everyone look at him wide-eyed.

          "What are you talking about?"

          "I saw him last night at the mini-mall. I was buying..." The boy's eyes went wide, "a-a carton of milk! I was buying a carton of milk, yeah." Venus and Eli shared a look, laughs almost bursting out of their lips.

          "When I heard him in the parking lot, yelling. He was drunk and upset. He started peeing on his car and then told me that we all were gonna die."

          "He was peeing on his car?" Venus scrunched up her nose, "His own car? The one he yelled at me for almost falling into?"

          Ignoring Venus' comments, Aisha leaned forward to Bert, "Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier?"

          "I don't know." Bert shrugged, "I guess I'm just so used to seeing him drunk, it didn't seem like that big a deal."

          "Well, we're here, and he's not. So, it's offically a big deal." Eli snapped, worry lacing his tone, "What if something happened to him?"

          Venus frowned, her heart dropping, "Wait, he didn't drive, did he? Please tell me he didn't get into the car."

          Bert shrugged and challenged Eli, "What would've happened to him?"

          "I don't know." Eli shrugged, "Like he drove his car off a cliff, or he bought a gun and blew his brains out."

          Fear crept into the Torres girl's veins, worst-case scenarios prodding at her brain. Venus pulled herself from Eli's grip and reached for her phone, "Should I call the nearest hospital?"

          "No, sensei would never kill himself." Aisha shook her head, placing her hand on Venus' arm, "It's too pussy a move."

          "Whatever," Eli scoffed, "I mean, we're here. We're gonna have to do it without him."

          "Do what without me?"

          "Sensei." Aisha nodded at him.

          "Oh thank god." Venus breathed, turning around with a small smile, "We thought you died."

          Sensei looked tired, his voice lacking the determination it usually held, "I may not always win, but I never back out of a fight."

          "All right," Miguel gestured towards the doors, clearly fed-up, "Let's sign up."

          "Not yet," Sensei glanced around the group of students, "There's one more lesson I have to teach you."

⎯⎯⎯

          "All teams report to the locker room in five minutes."

          The students were now gathered inside the All-Valley building, with Johnny in the center.

          "You've all learned to strike first, to be aggressive, not be losers. I taught you to strike hard, put every ounce of your power behind everything you do. But I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai... no mercy." Sensei's voice regained its strength as he spoke, circling around the group.

          "The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. You wake up one morning feeling great, and then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls, takes a big steaming shit in your mouth. You get an F on a test, you get suspended. You fall in love with a girl, and some other dude comes and steals her away."

          Venus gazed at Miguel to see his jaw clench and his glare hardened on the floor.

          "Your car gets set on fire. Just when you think things are going good, everything falls apart. That's how it goes. Life shows no mercy, so neither do we." Johnny lectured them, his tone strict, "We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. We do whatever it takes to win! Remember who you are."

          "You're badass! You don't give a shit! You kick ass! You're Cobra Kai."

          "Cobra Kai!" Miguel screamed, the sound echoing around the building.

          Cheers erupted from the students.

          "All right, guys. Let's get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!" Johnny cheered.

          Venus glanced at Aisha, worry shining through her eyes, "I like his enthusiasm, but I'm gonna end up on a gurney."

          Aisha laughed and threw her arm around Venus with a wide smile.

          Miguel opened his bag and began to bring out the white Cobra Kai gi Sensei Lawerence had gifted him.

          "No," Sensei shook his head, holding his hand out, "You're not wearing those."

001. 𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹'𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬.      posted october 14 , 2022

hi!! i!! hate!! this!! chapter!!